Stories of scientists

Getting glued to a crocodile. Accidentally swallowing a fossil or having equipment stolen by monkeys. Scientists from all around the world have shared dozens of these stories, starting with the hashtag #fieldworkfail on Twitter.

I wanted to make something more interesting than just illustrating the Fieldwork Fails.
I thought this book could be an opportunity for everyone to learn a thing or two.

So I asked the scientists I illustrated to tell me a few things about their field. You will have on one page the illustration and on the other one some facts, testimonies, how-to or other informations related to the story!

More work to do, but I wanted to make a book I would love as a reader.

Printing

I love beautiful books, so for me the printing quality is not negotiable. It won't be print-on-demand but real offset print.

I found a printer with great balance between price and quality, which prints graphic novels for renowned editors such as Actes Sud or Bayard.

* can be upgraded up to 74 pages with the stretch goals ** can be upgraded to selective varnishing with the stretch goals

Shipping:

Since the beginning of the project, Fieldwork Fail is international. I did my best to keep the price of the book accessible for everyone.

So I'm happy to annonce FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE. Whether you are in Canada, Brazil, USA or anywhere, you don't have to pay for shipping! I planned the size and weight of the rewards keeping shipping costs in mind.

Extra books: if you want to add more books to your reward, just add 20€ per book to your pledge. See F.A.Q.

GICLEE PRINTS examples (for art-lovers sets and above)

POSTCARDS and BOOKMARKS examples:(Postcards are for art-lover sets and above, bookmarks for deluxe sets and above)

Samples of what the watercolor rewards might look like (these one were painted in French Guyana):

Instead of looking for a publisher, I chose the adventure of crowdfunding!

I find it exciting to work on the whole process, even if it's a lot more work. Crowdfunding allows me to control the book creation.

I love the way crowdfunding connects creators to supporters, and involves them in the creation process.

Furthermore, in the classic book system, the book creator is almost forgotten in the distribution, almost all the funds being allocated to the editor, the distribution and the book seller. Most artists cannot make a living from their work with this system. Crowdfunding is closer to a fair distribution.

How will be the funding used ?

The crowdfunding goal is based on

covering costs for printing the book

cover shipping worldwide

send a copy to all scientists involved in the project

proofreading and promotion

Kickstarter fees and credit card fees.

cover paying a fee to myself

The Kickstarter objective is roughly the cost of 500 copies for the book.

If the book is funded with more than 500 backers, the surplus funds will be used to improve the quality of the book and the rewards :

All stretch goals unlocked!

I'm Jim Jourdane, French illustrator. I worked as well as a storyboarder and animator in the animation industry.

I worked as an illustrator for children magazines like Milan's Moboclic

I published a (tiny) graphic novel "Les Loups Blancs", edited by Danger Public / La Martinière.

As an animator and a storyboarder, I worked for TV series in french studio Normaal Animation. I also directed animated shorts films about Mythology.

Art & Science collaboration

I worked a lot on Fieldwork Fail these last months but this project would not have been possible without the strong collaboration of fieldwork scientists.

They provided stories, encouraged the creation of this book, took time to answer to my questions and helped me to promote the project. Thanks a lot!

So...

Because you love science and the idea to discover science in a funny way! By backing this Kickstarter, you're not just helping a book to get made, you're laying the groundwork for other projects mixing science and illustration.

Because the book won't be distributed in book stores. It will be printed once. If you're interested, it's now or never!

Money-back Guarantee: If you are not satisfied with the book, you can return it for a full pledge refund within 1 month of receiving it.

Thank you!

Risks and challenges

I have quotes for printing and shipping and tried to plan all I could think of.

Manually handled shipping can be time-consuming, so if ever the crowdfunding campaign would be more successful than expected, I plan to use a part of the funding to simplify logistic, using the services of fulfillment and survey companies like Backerkit or Fulfillrite.

I'm willing to manage the shipping in the best conditions possible. If ever the book arrive in a bad condition or you are not satisfied with the content, send back the book and I pay you back, no question asked.

The book printing quality will be one of my top priorities. Here too, if there is a problem with the printing, I'll invite you to shipping me back the book to get another copy or be reimbursed!